


Lying to the Kents

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-12-13
Updated: 2001-12-13
Packaged: 2017-11-01 07:00:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/353462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Saturday.  Clark and Lex begin to study what makes Clark different from humans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lying to the Kents

## Lying to the Kents

by PepperjackCandy

<http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=86102>

* * *

Title: Honesty -- Chapter 7, Lying to the Kents Author: PepperjackCandy  
Series: Follows "The Truth"  
Archive : Smallville Slash Archive, my writing at fanfiction.net Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: Clark/Lex  
Category: Established Relationship  
Spoilers for: Nothing. I don't think. 

Disclaimer: I own nothing Smallville-related, or related in any other way to Clark Kent, Superman or any of the various creations of the wonderful folks at DC Comics. 

Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail or using the review system at fanfiction.net. 

WARNING: The forthcoming chapters will contain indecent amounts of technobabble. Each chapter from here in will contain a sort of technobabble summary at the end, so if you're not into that sort of thing, you can sort of skim for important stuff (smoochies, etc.). I hope some of it actually makes sense. I think (with the help of Joyce and Livia from the ClarkLex list) that I'm onto something about the nature of kryptonite in the Smallville universe . . . 

* * *

Clark woke on Saturday morning as the birds just began chirping in the trees outside his window. He sighed and dragged himself out of bed. _No time like the present, I guess._

He'd left Lex in the loft with a spiral notebook and a handful of pencils several hours previously, after Lex had assured him that he'd be able to get home by himself. 

He arrived downstairs, where the back door stood open, indicating that Jonathan had already started his daily work. Grabbing a Pop-Tart from the cabinet, Clark ate it quickly and headed out to join his father. 

He found his father in the barn, talking to Lex. And from the look of the rumpled clothes he'd been wearing the night before, Lex hadn't gone home after all. 

"Look, Mr. Kent . . ." Lex was explaining earnestly. "I was inspired last night while I was talking to Clark. He gave me some paper and pencils and went to bed. This is the first time I've been down from the loft since dinner last night." He held out the spiral notebook, paging quickly enough through it that Jonathan got the sense of the complexity of the science involved without picking up on the specifics. 

"Lex, I don't know what you're pulling here, but I just hope that you don't intend to drag us into whatever lawsuit results from all of that when it starts killing people." 

"Actually, Mr. Kent, the intention of this is to," he glanced back at the house and saw Clark watching them, "save lives," he finished quietly. "Clark. Good morning." He called out. 

"Morning, Lex. Dad." Clark said as he joined them in the barn. "What's this all about?" 

"Your . . . friend here has been planning some new business venture or other here in our barn, apparently." 

"Oh. That. Yeah, Lex and I talked about that last night. He was onto something and asked me for some paper and pencils so he could work it out while it was fresh in his mind." Clark said, giving his father only enough information to help Lex. 

Jonathan took Clark aside. Once they were away from Lex, he said, "He was here all night, son. Who knows what he got up to." Jonathan whispered pointedly. "He might have gone down into the _storm_ _cellar_." 

"We could just ask him." Clark said calmly. "Or we could fingerprint him and see if we find his fingerprints on the doors of the storm cellar." That wasn't a bad idea. Clark would be interested to see if Bruce Wayne's fingerprints were on the storm cellar door, actually. 

Lex made no secret that he was eavesdropping. "I told your dad that I've been up in the loft all night. This is the first time I came down those stairs, but if you want to fingerprint me, can it at least wait until I go to the bathroom?" 

"Go on, Lex. I'll deal with my dad." Clark said, looking directly at Jonathan. 

Lex hurried off towards the house, carrying his notebook with him. 

Clark advanced on his father. "Dad, I can promise you that Lex hasn't been anywhere near the storm cellar." 

"How could you possibly know for sure?" 

Clark itched to tell his father that Lex didn't need to look, because Lex already knew. "Because, why would he? I mean, he's been here for seven months now, and has, you know, all of those faceless minions at his beck and call." 

"Faceless minions?" Jonathan asked, amused. 

Clark tried to restrain the blush at his accidental use of a term he'd previously only used with Lex. "You know. People. Whatever. Heck, remember back last fall? When I was out with Lana, and Lex had you and Mom over to his house? He could have sent someone over to look through the storm cellar then." 

Jonathan looked intently at his son. "You're right. He could have." 

Too late, Clark realized his mistake. "But he didn't. I'm sure of it. I would have seen some sign of it if he had." 

Martha came out of the house, then. "Did you know that Lex Luthor spent the night in our hayloft?" She asked Jonathan. 

"Mom. He was working on something. He's a scientist, you know. He . . . was inspired, so I brought him some paper and pencils and left him to it last night." 

"You knew?" Martha asked. 

"He promised me he'd find his own way home. I didn't know that his burst of inspiration would keep him here all night." 

"Did you leave him alone in the house?" Jonathan asked. 

"He went into the downstairs bathroom. I'm sure he's just . . ." Martha hastened to assure him. 

"Martha. The window of the downstairs bathroom is just over the door to the storm cellar." 

"Jeez, you two. Will you just . . . ." 

Clark stomped off towards the house. Standing on the storm cellar door, he knocked at the bathroom window. "You in there, Lex?" He called out. 

A moment later, Lex came to the window. He slid it open. "What are you doing?" 

"Just making sure you haven't climbed out the window and aren't climbing down into the storm cellar as we speak." 

"I'm sorry." Lex apologized sincerely. "I didn't even notice the time until it was already sunrise and I came down the stairs to find your dad already down there." 

"That's all right." Clark assured him. "They're being completely unreasonable. All of these lies and coverups and things . . . I just wish I could tell them and get it over with." 

Lex smiled softly. "That's why I love you. And we'll tell them. When you are really ready to. If that's today, then . . ." 

Clark shook his head. "No. That would just make this whole situation worse. They'll suspect you until they don't, and," he added sheepishly, "I made the mistake of pointing out that you could have rummaged through the storm cellar at any time since arriving in Smallville. I even used the term 'faceless minions.'" 

Lex grinned. "Well, let me finish here and then we'll do damage control." 

With that, he slid the window shut, and Clark went back to his parents. 

"There. See? He's in the bathroom, doing . . . bathroom things." 

"I know, and I'm sorry. I know that Lex didn't go through the storm cellar. Your mom talked some sense into me." Jonathan admitted ruefully. 

"You know, I could just put an end to any worries you have." 

"What?" Jonathan asked, as Clark began pacing the ground, staring at it intently. 

"There." Clark pointed at the ground beneath his feet. "About eight feet below the surface, there's a chunk of limestone that'll cover up the whole entrance to the storm cellar. Just give me a minute to dig it up, and then anyone who wants to look down there'll have to ask me first." 

"Clark, stop." Jonathan asked as his son headed for the barn. 

Soon, Clark came back with a shovel. He poised it on the dirt and pressed down. . . 

"Stop." Martha's voice cut through the haze of Clark's self-pity. 

He looked up at his mom, silently begging her to talk him out of this. 

"Clark, your father, apologized. He overreacted." 

Clark dropped the shovel. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just that I _know_ I can trust Lex. We all can. He's a good guy." 

"I'm sure he is." Jonathan said without conviction. 

Lex, still carrying the notebook, rejoined the family assembled in the back yard. He glanced down, wordlessly, at the shovel lying on the ground. "Well, thank you for the use of your loft, Mr. Kent." He said cheerfully. 

"You're welcome to stay for breakfast." Jonathan said stiffly. 

Lex shook his head regretfully. "No. Thank you," he added belatedly, "I've got to get this home," he indicated the notebook, grinning, "and check out some of my research." 

Jonathan and Martha blinked at the glee in Lex's tone. 

"I'll walk you to your car." Clark offered. 

Once they were out of Jonathan and Martha's earshot, Lex said, "We need to come up with some way to get you over to my place. To do some studies, of course." 

"Of course. No ulterior motives at all." Clark couldn't help grinning. 

Lex returned the grin. "All in the name of science." 

"Oh, so that's what the kids are calling it these days." 

They'd reached the car, and Lex glanced back towards the side of the house, fearful that Jonathan or Martha would come around the corner. "God, I wish I could kiss you." 

"You will be able to. Just as soon as I can get away to come over." 

"It's not just about wanting to kiss you now. It's about wanting to kiss you anytime. Anywhere." 

"Anywhere?" Clark asked, heavily suggestive. 

"I'm leaving now, before I ravish you right here in front of God, your parents, and everyone." Lex said as he opened his car door. 

Clark sighed. "I'm not sure I'll be able to come over tonight. With, you know, the you-spent-the-whole-night-in-our-loft thing and all." 

"I really do have to see you soon, because," he leaned forward, "I sort of, well, had some dealings with Steven Hamilton a few months ago." 

Clark couldn't believe it. "The meteor guy?" 

"Yeah. The meteor guy. Well, he sent me reams of printouts on the chemical makeup of the meteors, and, really, nothing odd showed up. Quartz, beryl, not a particularly high quality of either. Just . . . rocks." 

"Anything that glows?" 

"Glows?" 

Clark nodded. "The rocks glow when I'm near them. At least I assume it's just when I'm around them. I've never heard anyone else talk about it." 

Lex shook his head. "That's a new one on me." 

"Well, if we need to get started on this, we need to get started on it. Give me some time to work on my folks. If I can be over tonight, I will." 

Clark and Lex glanced back at the house, where they could see Jonathan and Martha still deep in conversation. Lex grabbed Clark's shoulders and turned him so that the younger man's broad back hid him from the elder Kents, then reached up, kissed Clark quickly, and ducked into his car so fast that even Clark was surprised. 

After his lover left, Clark returned to his parents, bracing himself for the inevitable confrontation with his father. 

"So," he said when he stopped next to them. 

"I'm sorry." Jonathan said. "I was entirely too harsh with Lex." 

Clark blinked, unable to decide what to do next. Finally, he decided to press his luck. "Well, what I'm about to say might try this newfound patience of yours." 

Jonathan took a deep breath and Clark could almost see his father bracing himself, as if Clark were going to hit him. 

"What Lex is working on? It's about all of the meteor mutants. He thinks he's onto something, and from what he's said, I think he is, too." 

"All right." Jonathan paused, waiting for more. 

"Well, he saw me around the meteors once," he didn't tell his parents that it was when Lex had taken Lana's necklace from around his neck as he hung, crucified, in a cornfield, "and he knows that I'm sensitive to them." 

"OK." Again, that same pause. 

"He thinks it might be an allergy of some sort. Completely human, not alien at all. I'm sure. But he thinks that by studying my . . . allergy to the meteors, he might get some insight into what makes the meteors change people." 

Jonathan could hear what was coming next. "No." 

"But I think he might be able to help. Protect me from whatever it is that makes me so weak. And I could find out exactly what he knows about . . . everything." 

"It's too dangerous to you. Physically. You might as well be a human child asking a parent for permission to _be_ the target when a friend learns to use a gun, Clark." 

"It's not that bad. We've talked it over, and he's assured me that he'll have proper protective gear." 

"All right, so you're the target wearing a bullet proof vest. Not much improvement." 

"Do you trust me?" 

"Of course I do." 

"It's Lex you don't trust." 

"And you do? With your life?" 

That was easy. "Yes." 

Jonathan blinked, clearly expecting some pause, some delay. "Oh. Well, if you really feel that way, then I guess I can't stop you." He said stiffly. 

"Really?" He hoped he wasn't grinning like an idiot, but he was pretty sure he was. 

"What else do you expect me to say?" 

After Jonathan had returned to his work, Clark looked at his mother. "What just happened?" Clark asked. 

Martha gave him a bittersweet smile and reached up to run her fingertips down her son's cheek. "I think he knows that you're growing up, and you seemed pretty set on this." 

"I am. I know I can trust Lex." 

"Son? Is there something you want to tell us? Me? About Lex?" 

Clark thought he knew what his mother was talking about. Hoped he knew what his mother was talking about. Was afraid he knew what his mother was talking about. He lied. "No, Mom. Nothing." 

"All right. If you ever need to tell me anything about Lex, know that you can." 

"Thanks, Mom." 

"Now I think your father needs your help." 

All the way to where Jonathan stood waiting for his son, Clark mulled over this exchange in his mind. *Mom must know that I love Lex. But can she see that Lex loves me, too? Or does she think that this is a one-way crush?* 

He reached his father's side and buried these thoughts under the three 100-pound bags of seed Jonathan needed carried into the barn. 

The morning of farm work, followed by lunch, followed by an afternoon of homework, followed by dinner, went more quickly than Clark could have expected. Soon, he was helping his mother clear the table. 

"Can I go over to Lex's and start working on this meteor thing with him tonight?" 

"Well, it is still the weekend," his mother said, "so I don't see why not. Just don't stay out too late. Your father worries." 

"I won't. Thanks." Clark picked up his school book bag, left there from his homework that night, kissed his mother on the cheek and, in a blur of speed, was out the door and gone. 

Moments later, he stood on Lex's doorstep and rang the doorbell. After a few minutes with no response, he tried the doorknob, which turned easily under his hand. 

"Lex?" He called out, hearing only silence as his response. 

He walked further into the house. "Lex!" 

Somewhere in the distance a clock was ticking. Reaching the main corridor, he looked down to the right, then to the left. The ticking was definitely coming from the right. He went left. Down towards the kitchen. 

As he passed the doorway to the kitchen, he heard a sharp intake of breath, and looked to see Lex about to collide with him and pour hot soup on himself in the process. 

By the time Lex could say, "Jesus, Clark, you scared the hell out of me," Clark had gotten out of the way and grabbed the bowl of soup away from Lex, holding it in his own invulnerable hands as the scalding-hot liquid sploshed over the edge. 

"Soup, Lex? You need more dinner than that." Clark winced as he realized how much he sounded like Martha. 

Lex primly took the bowl from Clark's hands. "Thank you for keeping me from scalding myself, but I'm working. You should be happy I'm eating even this." Then, grinning, he said, "Come on. I'll show you the lab." 

Still bearing the bowl of soup in his hands, Lex led Clark the rest of the way down that end of the corridor to a flight of stairs leading down. Down they went, into the basement, then through another corridor to a stainless steel door. 

Lex stepped to one side. "After you." 

Clark grasped the handle and pushed the door open. Beyond was a lab the likes of which Clark had never seen. Equipment that Clark was certain must be state-of-the-art lined a counter along one wall. Empty counters, evidently for work, lined two others. By the fourth wall stood a desk. Lex carried his bowl of soup to the desk and put it down. 

Then he walked back across the room to Clark, wrapping his arms around his lover and pulling his head down for an enthusiastic hello kiss. "I've been needing that all day." Lex said as they separated. 

"Me, too." Clark grinned, grabbing Lex and pulling him closer. "And this." 

They kissed again, only coming up when they needed air. 

"I'd better eat my soup before it gets cold." Lex said, reluctantly releasing his hold on Clark. 

Clark idly picked up a shiny black block roughly the size and shape of a bar of soap from the desk. 

"Clark! Don't!" Lex yelled, making Clark drop the block, which thunked loudly as it hit the desk. 

"I'm sorry. I won't . . . ." Clark stammered. 

Lex calmed down and grabbed Clark by his upper arms. "Are you all right?" He said distinctly. 

Clark met Lex's eyes squarely. "Yes. I'm fine." 

Lex heaved a sigh of relief and released Clark's arms. Panting heavily, he picked up the block. 

"What is it?" Clark asked. 

"Nobody knows." Lex shrugged. "But it comes from those meteors that came with you." 

Clark looked a question at his lover. 

Lex tapped the block against his hand. "I actually left this out to remind me to test it out on you in a controlled situation. That was a miserable damn failure, huh?" 

Clark lifted the block from Lex's hand and looked at it, smiling crookedly. "Well, apparently this isn't the problem." He looked pointedly at Lex. "Eat your soup." 

Lex moved to the chair behind the desk and sat, pulling the bowl to him. 

Clark found another chair and pulled it over to the desk, straddling it backwards and sat, facing Lex. 

In between slurps of soup, Lex explained. 

"I remembered most of it correctly. Quartz. Beryl. Beryl tends towards the green. You know, aquamarines. Emeralds." 

"Emeralds?" 

Lex nodded. "Never seen a gemstone-quality meteor before. Besides Lana's necklace. And even that's probably not pure, considering your reaction to it. Anyway, there's other stuff in there, too." Lex dug something out of the bowl and squinted into the spoon. "Carbon, things like that. 

"And then there's that." Lex indicated the block. "Nothing like it on our periodic table. That I can tell you." 

"It's nice, you know? Knowing that you know everything." 

"Hm?" Lex looked at him. 

"Well, that bowl of soup for example. Just a couple of days ago, you'd've been nursing burns while I pretended to have been injured, and you'd've had to've done something else for dinner, too. But since you know, I could get out of the way, save you from getting scalded, _and_ save your dinner. And all without having to pretend that boiling water can burn me." 

"My hero." Lex grinned. 

"All in a day's work." Clark grinned. Then he turned serious. "So, nothing in those meteors should be able to hurt me?" 

"Nope." Lex slurped up the final spoonful of soup. "Looks like we're going to have to start combining minerals and see what happens." 

"Lex?" 

"Yeah?" 

"What about the glow?" 

Lex shook his head. "Didn't see anything luminescent in there. Or even potentially luminescent. Maybe the meteors're turned on when you're near them." Lex flirted shamelessly. 

"Well, if they're attracted to me, they sure have a funny way of showing it. I'm attracted to you and I don't regularly try to kill you." 

Lex stood. "I have one of the meteors here." He said. "It's safe now, in a lead box, but if you feel up to it, can you show me what you mean about the glow?" 

Clark nodded. "Sure." 

Lex went to the side counter and picked up the box, bringing it back to the desk. He placed it in front of Clark. "Whenever you're ready." He said, moving to give Clark free access to the box. 

His hand trembling, Clark opened the box. "You . . . you see? The glow?" He choked out as waves of nausea washed over him. 

Lex shook his head. "I don't see . . . Christ! Clark!" Lex threw a hand out and slammed the lid down on the box. "What the hell was that?" 

Clark swallowed convulsively. "What?" He looked at Lex. 

"Your . . . skin. It started to . . . " Lex gestured futilely. 

"Oh. That. Well, whenever I get near the meteors it happens." 

"Then why did you do it?" Lex sighed. 

Clark shrugged. "Because you needed me to." 

"We're going to have to talk more about this later. A little self-sacrifice goes a long way, Clark." Lex rubbed his face with his hands, then looked at his hands. "Well, at least I wasn't able to see what you're talking about it glowing." 

Lex walked around in front of Clark and looked into his eyes, not romantically, but incisively, as if examining them. "Do you often see things that other people don't see?" 

"You mean like hallucinations?" 

Lex shrugged. 

"No. Not normally." 

"And how about _not_ like hallucinations?" Lex prodded gently. 

"Well, there's this one thing . . ." 

"Yes?" 

"I can sometimes see through things." 

"What kind of things?" 

"Walls? It's a sort of . . . x-ray vision." 

"What color underwear am I wearing?" 

Clark glanced down at Lex's fly. "You probably don't want me to do that. We don't know what it'd do to you." 

"Actually," Lex smiled slyly. "I thought you could just . . . check." 

Clark reached up to Lex's neck, pulling Lex down to him for a kiss. One kiss, then another, then Clark's cell phone rang. 

"It might be my folks." Clark sighed as he pulled the phone from his book bag. He looked at the number in the caller ID. "It's Pete." 

He looked questioningly as he answered. "Hello?" 

"Hi, Clark." 

"Pete! What's up?" 

"I was about to call Lana up and ask her out . . ." 

Clark met Lex's eyes. Lex could clearly hear what Pete was saying through the side of the cell phone. They grinned at each other. "And?" 

"And, well, I wasn't sure if it was right to make it, you know, a date. So I thought a group thing." 

"Yeah. Sounds good. You want me there?" 

"You. And Lex." 

Lex and Clark looked at each other, both surprised. "Lex?" 

"Yeah. Well, since everyone knows that you two are friends, it'd keep the pressure off, but since . . .," Clark could hear Pete editing himself, "you know, it could also make it seem more like a date, if that's what she wants." 

Clark looked at Lex, who nodded. "We'd love to help. When and where do you need us?" 

"That was fast. Shouldn't you call Lex . . . oh, no. Lex is there, isn't he?" 

"Well, technically, I'm at Lex's." 

"And he can hear every word I said, can't he?" 

Lex took the phone from Clark. "Yes, Pete, I can. And just like Clark said, we'll be wherever, whenever." 

"Thanks." 

Lex handed the phone back to Clark. "So? Where? When?" 

"I was thinking, sort of lunch-ish tomorrow? I'll call Lana, then call you back and let you know where exactly and when." 

"Cool. We'll be waiting for your call." Clark hung up the phone and turned back to Lex. "Now, where were we . . ." 

Lex sighed heavily. "Talking about your vision." At Clark's disappointed look, he said, "As much as Pete thinks he understands, I don't think he'd appreciate it if he called back when we were in the middle of something." 

Clark gave him a crooked smile. "You're right." 

"Something that occurred to me while you were talking to Pete is that the glow you see is probably real." 

"Then why can't you see it?" 

"Because. You're not human, Clark." 

Clark's eyes widened. 

"I'm not saying that's wrong, but it's something that you're going to have to face. Humans have very poor eyesight, really. We can see only the smallest portion of the spectrum. You, evidently, can see," he shrugged, "a color that we can't." 

"You think so?" 

"It's entirely possible." 

"So, how the heck do you go about testing someone to see if they can see . . . invisible colors?" 

Lex thought. "Dunno. But one of my friends from college is an opthalmologist, and I can give him a call and ask him. Purely theoretically, of course." 

Clark's cell phone rang. "Hey, Pete." 

"It's all set. Tomorrow at 1:00? At the diner on Third Street?" 

"We'll be there." 

"Great. Should I bring her something? You know, flowers, candy?" 

"Only if you want it to seem like a date." Lex offered. "If you want it to seem like a friend thing, then act like it's a friend thing." 

"Yeah. That makes sense." Pete was clearly nervous. 

"Pete? You want me to come over?" Clark, concerned for his friend's state of mind, asked. 

"No. I'm. I'm fine." Pete babbled. 

"All right then. We'll see you tomorrow at 1:00 then." 

"Yeah. See you then. Bye." With that, Pete hung up. 

"That's just so cute." Lex said with a smile as Clark put his cell phone down on the desk. 

"Yeah? Well, you were pretty cute in the early days of our relationship, too." Clark grinned. 

"Oh, really?" 

"Yeah, really. Wasn't it our second date when you babbled to me about the whole candy, flowers thing?" 

"Well, I mean, you're a guy. I didn't think you'd _want_ those things, but that's sort of, you know, an old-school courtship ritual. And I felt you deserved the full courtship. I was conflicted." 

"Well, my mom to this day wonders who anonymously sent those flowers to her." 

"Solved the problem didn't it?" 

"Indeed it did. You know, my parents aren't expecting me back for another couple of hours." 

"Really?" 

"Mm-hmm. I bet we can get a couple of laps in your pool in, and then a little post-exercise relaxation might be in order. . . ." 

"I like the way you think, Farmboy." Lex grinned as he pulled Clark to himself for a kiss. 

Technobabble summary: Um, well, I guess in a really mind-bending way, radio waves are a color that we can't see, so we have equipment that turns it into sound (<http://classes.csumb.edu/CST/CST332-01/world/Mat/hvs.html>). And sometimes things look the entirely wrong color to humans, like an ageratum flower that _should_ be red, but is actually blue (<http://www.cs.unc.edu/~majumder/color/node12.html>). Which is true for Clark? :Shrugs: I haven't decided which makes more sense yet. 


End file.
